


Happy Birthday, Sammy

by curiously_me



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Birthdays, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-03-15
Updated: 2010-08-11
Packaged: 2017-10-10 07:09:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/97034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiously_me/pseuds/curiously_me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean dies on Sam's birthday... Looking back through the years at Sam's birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. May 2, 2008: Sam turns 25, Dean dies

_Happy birthday to you,  
Happy birthday to you,  
Happy birthday, dear Sammy!  
Happy birthday to you!_

Sam jolted awake, tears streaming down his face. Gasping in lungfulls of air, he turned to his brother's bed. It was empty and Sam wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. Sam had wanted to believe he could fix things, that he'd find a spell or incantation or something, anything, he could use to break Dean's deal.

Sam had spent the last year researching, reading anything and everything he could get his hands on in the chance that this book or blog or obscure text might hold the key to Dean's survival. He'd spent countless nights sleepless, just watching Dean breathing, praying to God that he'd find something.

In the end, all of his sleepless nights, all the money he'd spent on books and resources, all the contacts he'd made _or broken_, were for nothing.

Dean was dead and by some sick twist of fate, he'd died on Sam's birthday.

Sam had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to live in a world without his brother. The very thought of Dean _not_ being there had never even entered Sam's mind, not in his wildest nightmares had Dean abandoned him. Dean Winchester was a constant in his brother's life, had been since the moment their parents brought the little boy home and let his big brother hold him for the very first time.

In a world without Dean, Sam just didn't want to live.

* * *


	2. May 2, 1987

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean bakes his first cake, Sammy approves.

_Happy birthday to you,  
Happy birthday to you,  
Happy birthday, dear Sammy!  
Happy birthday to you!_

Dean grinned toothily as his Dad slid the birthday cake across the table. Sammy was turning four and Dad had let him make the cake; he'd followed the recipe word-for-word and the cake almost looked like the one on the box. He'd spent his entire allowance on candles that sparked and fizzled.

The look in Sammy's eyes made Dean feel ten feet tall.

"Go on, Sammy," their father said. "Blow out the candles." He winked at Dean as he said this. Dean was going to help Sammy blow out all his candles.

'It's what big brothers are supposed to do.' John Winchester had told his eldest son the night before. He'd smiled at Dean's serious face, the boy looked like a little soldier on a mission he didn't plan on failing.

John didn't have many reason to smile anymore, but his boys could do the impossible and turn the big, bad, hunter into the gentlest of teddy bears. He loved his boys with everything he was and would forever be grateful for the bond between them; even at such a young age, he could see they would have each other's backs forever.

John watched as Dean cut the cake with a butter knife (John still wasn't comfortable letting him use a sharp one in day-to-day tasks), giving his little brother a piece that nearly filled the small paper plate. And he laughed gently when Sam's eyes went huge before the boy dug into the cake with both hands.

Sammy ate that piece of cake like it was going out of style as Dean looked on, proud of his ability to make his brother happy. John watched his boys and wished life could always be this easy.


	3. May 2, 2004

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean never forgets to text.

_Happy birthday to you,  
Happy birthday to you,  
Happy birthday, dear Sammy!  
Happy birthday to you!_

It's Sam's twenty-first birthday and he should be inside partying like the college-kid he is. Instead, he's outside checking his messages and hoping to find one from a specific person, someone who's meant the world to Sam for as long as he can remember.

"There you are!"

Sam turned to the door as Jess stepped outside, coming to stand next to him.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, tucking herself into his side, when he raised an arm in welcome.

Sam sighed and looked down at his cell. "Just checking my messages real quick," he said nonchalantly.

Jess wasn't fooled for a minute, "He didn't send one, did he?"

When Sam didn't answer, she hugged him to her, letting him hide his tears. Jess was having a hard time holding her own tears back. While she knew the basics of Sam's separation from his family, there was a lot he wouldn't, or maybe couldn't, tell her.

Jess did know that Sam loved his older brother more than anything, more than most siblings she'd ever seen. He loved his brother so fiercely, it made something inside her go tight whenever the unknown man hurt Sam.

"Oh, Sam." Jess crooned, petting his messy hair. "I know he loves you and there's no way he just forgot, not without a damn good reason."

Soon after, they excused themselves from the party and Jess took Sam back home, tucking him into bed. He fell asleep almost instantly, making Jess wonder how much he'd had to drink. She stood for a moment, infinitely thankful that he'd come into her life. Sam was the sweetest boy she'd ever met; he carried her books for her, opened doors, and pulled out her chair at dinner. Whoever had raised such a polite and caring young man should be commended, she thought.

Her pocket vibrated and when Jess pulled Sam's phone out, she grinned. Sam had just received a text message. It was 11:53pm.

'Yeah, Dean was cutting it close this year,' she thought, setting the phone on the bedside table where Sam would see it first thing.

***Hey, Sammy! Geez, you're getting old! Sorry, this is so late, but you know work... got torn up by a big dog (I swear it was a wolf) and had to get stitched up at the local ER. But, don't you worry 'bout me, you'd better be drunk or with some hot chick. Don't embarrass me by studying or some shit! -Dean.***


End file.
